Despite a 5-hit effort by Josh Phegley and a potent Hoosier offense, IU fell to Illinois today 8-7.
In the first of a four-game home stand against the Illini, IU (now 13-10, 2-3 Big Ten) found itself up 7-4 heading into to the ninth inning, needing only three outs to put away a very good Illinois team (now 15-7, 4-1 Big Ten).
Anthony Agnew had already pitched five innings for IU heading into the ninth, but began to run out of gas as he allowed a base hit, a double and a walk. Jason Ferrell was then called upon by IU skipper Tracy Smith.
Ferrell allowed all three of Agnew's base runners to cross, and then let in another unearned run as a Buckner-esque misplay by Jerrud Sabourin at first put a runner on who would eventually score.
A bright spot of the day would be Phegley who tallied three singles and two doubles to drive-in two and score two. The five-hit effort by Phegley was his second of the year, the other coming against Valparaiso on March 2nd. The Hoosiers struck out only once in the entire game, which ended up being the final out.
